Piastri lines up P2 after narrow Pole defeat in Jeddah

Locking in a front-row start despite missing out on Pole by just one-hundredth of a second, Oscar Piastri said he was “pretty happy” with his Qualifying performance in Jeddah and is “feeling confident in what we’ve got” to challenge Red Bull for victory.

The Australian started the session as the man to beat, putting himself on course to clinch the coveted front grid box from the moment he first left the garage in Q1, however, when push came to shove, the smallest Pole margin of the season robbed Piastri in the dying seconds.

Piastri bypassed the early hustle and bustle of Q1, watching from the sidelines for the opening few minutes before finally making his first attempt.

The Australian shot to the top of the order by a slim seven-millisecond margin, with his time of 1:28.019s working to demote his teammate, Lando Norris.

Norris bit back, however, upping his pace to put two-tenths between the teammates just prior to the final round of Q1 laps. 

With the #4 opting to remain in the pitlane, Piastri had the full attention of the McLaren pit wall as he charged for one final time, improving, however, remaining at a deficit to his teammate as the chequered flag waved.

Arming himself with a fresh set of soft compound tyres to start Q2, Piastri saw purple as he flew around the high-speed street circuit, recording a time of 1:27.690s that fell two-tenths short of his teammate thanks to a bumpy ride across the kerbs at Turn 5. 

He made a minor improvement on his next run, shaving a tenth off his initial lap before returning to the pitlane, getting ready to take one more tour of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

Continuing his quicker trajectory, the McLaren driver advanced to Q3 with a fastest time of 1:27.545s, forming the backend of a top three separated by just 64 milliseconds. 

When it came down to the all-important top-ten shootout, Piastri sent a strong message when he completed his first attempt, setting purple sector after purple sector to cross the line with a time of 1:27.560s.

The Australian was the only driver to ratify his lap before a feared Red Flag ruined the early flow of the session, with the #81 having his teammate’s Turn 5 crash to thank for his lucky banker lap.

After clearing Piastri’s crumpled teammate’s McLaren from the exit of the fast-paced corner, the session resumed with eight minutes on the clock, however, only three drivers ventured out when the track went green and Max Verstappen was one of them.

“We spoke about it, yes, but decided against [going out for two laps],” Piastri said. 

“Considering I had a lap on the board, I didn’t need to put another one on. 

“It was going to be extremely tight. 

“As Max said, he had to fuel for the whole run. 

“That first lap on used tyres with a bit more fuel, you’re weighing up how much you’re learning versus how much it puts you off. 

“When you don’t have a lap on the board, it’s a very different scenario. 

“For us with a lap on the board, we had done three or four new sets in a row. 

“We decided to go for that single lap at the end, and I think for us, it was the right decision.”

The Red Bull driver went purple in Sector 1, improving with a personal best in Sector 2 before a flying final sector rewarded him with a lap just one millisecond quicker than Piastri’s provisional Pole time—and he still had time for another shot.

With the pressure on McLaren to respond, the field finally made its way on track for one last-ditch launch at securing Pole in Saudi Arabia.

On Piastri’s second and final attempt, the #81 lost his earlier prowess, with his once-fastest sectors quickly being eaten up by the man who was hot on his tail behind.

The Australian momentarily revelled in provisional Pole Position with a time of 1:27.304s, however, when the Dutchman crossed the line, celebrations moved further down the pitlane as Verstappen stole the top grid slot by just 10 milliseconds—the small margin between the front-row all season.

“At the time, I felt like it was a good lap,” Piastri said. 

“I made a bit of a mistake on the first lap and managed to get through that corner much better on the second attempt. 

“And, you know, when you need one hundredth, you can think of a few places. 

“But, no, honestly, it was a good lap that I was happy with. 

“Max did a very good job today, and that was pretty much all we had.”

Lining up alongside Verstappen, Piastri will have a difficult—but not impossible—task to claim victory in Jeddah, with the last three out of four wins being earned by the driver on Pole. 

“I think we’ve got good pace,” he said. 

“I think the Red Bull and Max look more competitive here than they did certainly last week. 

“Suzuka is not a completely different layout to somewhere like here with a lot of high-speed corners, so it kind of makes sense to me at least that they’re a bit more competitive, and we’ll see if that translates to the race tomorrow. 

“I’m feeling confident in what we’ve got. 

“There’s a lot of DRS zones around here, which is a nice difference to Suzuka so, yeah, let’s see if we can make some progress.”

Win or lose, Piastri will also have the chance to claim the lead of the Drivers’ Championship after the triple-header concludes, needing to outscore Norris by three points to move into the top spot.

Lights out for an exciting Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will take place bright and early at 03:00 AEST, with the long weekend a welcomed relief for Australian F1 fans. 

Image: Formula 1

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